SuiteWorld 2014 – A “suite” experience!

SuiteWorld 2014, held at San Jose, was a great experience and exposure for us. Being first-timers at SuiteWorld, we wanted to get a good look at EVERYTHING – all the sessions, all the booths, all the networking opportunities… and of course all the games and goodies, which were quite unexpected at a “business conference”! Now we have a much better idea of what SuiteWorld is all about, what the other NetSuite Partners are working on, and what plans NetSuite has for the future.

NetSuite SuiteWorld 2014

The keynote speeches on each day were wonderfully planned and presented, with each keynote beginning with a small voiced-over video. Greatly entertaining, and a nice way to kick-off each day of the conference. The first day’s keynote by NetSuite’s CEO, Zach Nelson, was delayed almost an hour due to a power surge (or something like that), but Zach turned that to NetSuite’s advantage with his statement “NetSuite is now more relaiable than electricity…”. Amen, to that!
The second day’s keynote by NetSuite’s CTO, Evan Goldberg, was themed on the TV show Breaking Bad, with a hilarious video and voice-over. Following the short video, Evan’s speech made the new features and roadmap of NetSuite “crystal” clear. The thrid day’s keynote and video was probably the most entertaining of all! With a spoof of “It’s a Wonderful Life” renamed to “It’s a Wonderful Cloud”, this video took competitor-bashing (SAP) to a whole new level. They even arranged for popcorn! We loved it!

Waiting for the first day’s keynote…

Scott (right) w/ NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson

Found SuiteStan!

In addition to the breakout sessions, solution showcases and partner-only presentations, NetSuite decided to keep things interesting by encouraging attendees to vist more booths and attend more sessions, via their point-based game on the SuiteWorld mobile app. They even had one of those claw-machines at which you could try your luck, between sessions, and win a miniature stuffed SuiteStanley. My colleague actually managed to track down and get a photo with the elusive, life-sized, SuiteStanley. NetSuite also accomodated those of us who needed a good dose of sugar to keep going – there was a free candy booth sponsored by Dylan’s Candy Bar.

Here’s some of our takeaway from SuiteWorld 2014 -

NetSuite plans to release a new UI, very soon. It was demo-ed during multiple keynotes and sessions. When we got a look at this new UI, our first thought was – “Wow! That looks a lot like Facebook, but better!”. To all NetSuite customers, watch out for the new UI. It’s going to be awesome! To all those who aren’t currently NetSuite customers, once you see this, you’ll WANT NetSuite.

There’s a new SRP module for customers that need ERP along with some OpenAir-like functionality.

Dashboards are getting some new widgets / features that make using NetSuite more intuitive, clear and easy. It looks good, too!

There are 2 new certifications from NetSuite that will be available later in 2014 – one for NetSuite Admins, and the other for SDN Partners.